Man Convicted For Kidnapping, Mutilating California Marijuana Dispensary Owner

A California man was convicted Thursday for his role in kidnapping and cutting off the penis of a marijuana-dispensary owner in 2012.

According to a report by Orange County Register, Kyle Shirakawa Handley, 38, a resident of Fountain Valley, California, was convicted of kidnapping for ransom, aggravated mayhem and torture.

According to prosecutors, Handley teamed up with a few others to kidnap the victim in 2012, mistakenly believing he had buried $1 million in the Mojave Desert. They tortured him on the way to the place where they thought the money was buried and later cut off his penis.

Hadley was one of four people who were arrested in connection with the case. According to a 2013 report by New York Post, the other three were Ryan Anthony Kevorkian, 34, his wife Naomi Josette Kevorkian, 33 who were arrested in Fresno, California; Hossein Nayeri, 34, was arrested by the FBI in Prague, Czech Republic, as stated by Newport Beach police authorities.

Prosecutors said on Oct. 2, 2012, Handley, Nayeri and Ryan Kevorkian went to the dispensary owner’s residence at Newport Beach and kidnapped him along with his roommate’s girlfriend.

They blindfolded and tied them up and drove the pair to the desert; there they tortured the man with a blowtorch, severed his penis and splashed him with bleach, prosecutors said.

They then dumped him and his roommate’s girlfriend by the roadside and took the severed body part with them. According to the prosecutors, police authorities searched the desert but they never found the missing body part, the Orange County Register reported.

The prosecutors also stated that Handley was most likely the driver on the day of the incident and termed Nayeri, Handley’s best friend and co-defendant, as the mastermind of the crime.

The report said that Handley didn’t express any reaction when he heard the verdict. He would face a life term in prison without the possibility of an early parole when the court sentences him on March 23.

Handley's co-defendants in the case, Kevorkian and Nayeri, are still awaiting trial.

The victim reportedly said, “We’re supremely grateful for the hard work of the Newport Beach Police Department and the jury.”

Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, who was one of the prosecutors in the case said during an interview, “The jury made the right decision, and we hope it can bring some solace to the victims in this case.”

The report further stated that during the trial, the dispensary owner described his trauma as he was being tortured by the suspects, even after he told them that he didn’t have any money buried in the desert.

According to prosecutors, the dispensary owner and Handley became friends via a marijuana business and also went to Las Vegas together twice. Handley, who grew marijuana plants himself, was aware of the fact that the drug business had good financial returns and assumed that the victim had large amounts of money.

According to police authorities, Nayeri and Handley installed surveillance cameras at the victim’s residence and also made use of a GPS tracker to follow him when he made trips to the desert.

During the trial, evidence was presented which included surveillance cameras and GPS instruments which were delivered to Handley’s residence and also the fact that license-plate–readers rang his truck around 18 times near the owner’s home before the attack took place.

The victim and the roommate’s girlfriend were rescued when the latter was able cut herself free from the ropes she was tied up with. She then walked barefoot on gravel until she came across a road and then notified a police cruiser which was passing by.